


couldn't utter my love

by afangirlatheart



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Emotionally Repressed, Friendship, Gen, I promise!, I'm trying my best, Mokuton User Haruno Sakura, More tags to be added, and funny!, apparently, everything is better with friends!, except in naruto's head, including supressing your emotions, it came to me in a dream, it's actually really lighthearted!, mangekyou sasuke, naruto and kurama are roommates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-02-28 08:30:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18752734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afangirlatheart/pseuds/afangirlatheart
Summary: It starts like this:Sakura’s emotions control her Mokuton.  Happiness makes plants grow and blossom, sadness makes them wilt, and anger pulls them out of the ground.Naruto grows up with a guardian in Kurama, but an overprotective one.  Emotions too strong send their protective chakra boiling to the surface, which Naruto quickly learned had consequences.Sasuke has no practice with the Sharingan (let alone the mangekyou).  Once, while in a fit of anger at his brother, he accidentally set the floor on fire with a black fire the burned for five days.It starts like this:Three children need to control their emotions in a way others their age would never understand.  Who best to learn from but each other?





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

> the other chapters won't be formatted like this. i just did this one this way so that i could shove a bunch of backstory into a short little chapter and not have to write it all out. because apparently i'm lazy even in my procrastination project. anyways!

It starts like this:

Senju Butsuma was devastated after the death of two of his children in such a short time.  He turned to comfort outside the clan and unknowingly had an illegitimate child. Raised outside of the clan, unaware of their heritage, the child became a merchant.  Eventually, the granddaughter of that child moved to Konoha and married a career genin, and they had a daughter of their own.

It starts like this:

When Haruno Sakura is born, every cherry tree in Konoha blooms at the same time.

 

* * *

 

It starts like this:

When the Kyuubi broke free, in a dying attempt to save his village, Namikaze Minato sealed all of the Kyuubi’s chakra in his son.  His seal wasn’t quite strong enough to completely seal the Kyuubi, and every night when the jinchuuriki went to sleep he went to the corner of his mind where the Kyuubi was sealed.  The Kyuubi tried to kill it, so small and vulnerable, but slowly, they saw the whiskers, the sharp teeth, their chakra, something... useful ( _their_ kit).

It starts like this:

Uzumaki Naruto worms his way into Kurama’s heart when he says his first word in the sealspace: “Fox!”

 

* * *

 

It starts like this:

He rushed home from school that day, eager to play with his brother.  Instead, he saw him slit his parents’ throats. The world bleeds red (or is it his eyes?) and he passes out.  Itachi begged Madara to give his eyes to his brother, he didn’t mean this for him. Madara switched Itachi’s eyes with his brother's, after all, a pawn going blind is less useful (but maybe obito remembered being 13 too, barely out of childhood, giving up his eye, hoping he can fix just one thing for his precious person even though it was _all his fault_ ).

It starts like this:

Uchiha Sasuke wakes up to see a horrible world through eyes not his own, his parents’ deaths playing on his eyelids.

 

* * *

 

It starts like this:

Sakura’s emotions control her Mokuton.  Happiness makes plants grow and blossom, sadness makes them wilt, and anger pulls them out of the ground.

Naruto grows up with a guardian in Kurama, but an overprotective one.  Emotions too strong give him an opportunity to send their protective chakra boiling to the surface, which Naruto quickly learned had consequences.

Sasuke has no practice with the Sharingan (let alone the mangekyou).  Once, while in a fit of anger at his brother, he accidentally set the floor on fire with a black flame the burned for five days.

It starts like this:

Three children need to control their emotions in a way others their age would never understand.  Who best to learn from but each other?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well it's been like three months, how are all of you? i'm going to try to set up a once a month schedule for posting as a way to motivate myself??? we'll see how that goes.
> 
> anyways, here's a chapter with bb nart and kuramama meeting a bb tree

_ “Holding your breath this long will only make my chakra come out faster, Fishcake,” _ Kurama growled.  _ “List your ramen flavors." _

“I can’t help it, I’m going to the Academy to finally learn to be the world’s best shinobi, Rama!” Naruto let the words out with the breath he had been holding. “Shoyu, miso, shio, it’s not helping I’m just so excited y’know!”

Naruto bounced on his toes, trying to shake all his excitement out before Kurama’s chakra could escape, but it only seemed to make it move faster.

_ “You know,”  _ Kurama began, and Naruto froze because Kurama was using that voice, the one that meant Naruto wouldn’t like what came next.  _ “Before you actually learn to use your chakra, you have to read books.” _

“What!” Naruto yelped. His heart dropped, he didn’t know how to read at all. “But but but! Shinobi don’t have to read, right? They just beat up bad guys and rescue people, y’know?”

_ “That's how you learn to beat up the bad guys.” _

“You can help me though, right?” Naruto asked, concerned. If he did badly at the academy, they might kick him out, then Naruto’s life plan would be trashed and he’d have to come up with a new one.

_ “I’m a giant chakra being in the form of a fox, Fishcake.  Less than a hundred years ago, I had nothing to do with humans.  I know just as much about reading as you do,”  _ Kurama sighed.  Naruto deflated like a popped balloon and Kurama relented,  _ “I guess we’ll have to learn together, kit.” _

Naruto perked up a little at the thought of doing something with Kurama. “Yeah! We’ll be number one, y’know!”

Now that he was no longer at risk of boiling over with Kurama’a chakra or falling in a depressed funk, it was time to head to the academy for a great first day!

* * *

 

It was not a great first day.

Most of his classmates already knew how to read a bit, while Naruto didn't know at all and every time he tried to ask for help, the teacher ignored him or told him to stop being so loud.  As the day wore on, Kurama’s growls grew louder and louder, and at the end of the day, they almost shoved their chakra through when all the parents immediately pulled their children away from Naruto.

The day after that wasn’t any better. Or the next one. Or the next one. Or the whole first two weeks.

But then the third week came! They temporarily combined with another class in their year to do group work and when Naruto was having trouble, the other class’s teacher, Iruka-sensei, stopped to help him without Naruto even asking!

Once the lesson was over and all his classmates' parents had picked them up, Naruto headed to Iruka-sensei’s classroom. Exercising his shinobi skill of being super sneaky, Nauto peered around the door to check if Iruka-sensei was there.

Sitting at his desk, Iruka-sensei was talking to a girl from his class. Naruto remembered her, both because of her pink hair and because her feel had made Kurama’s fur stand up.

“ _ Chakra, Fishcake, chakra. Her chakra feels like that dumb fucking Tree, _ ” Kurama growled, already bristling at her presence. “ _ Are you going to talk to the teacher or just stand there? _ ”

“ _ Yeah yeah, I’m getting there. _ ”

“Iruka-sensei,” Naruto called. Iruka’s head jerked over to look at the door to see Naruto there.

“Ah, Naruto! Just one second, let me finish talking to Sakura,” he smiled. The tree girl, who was apparently named after a type of tree, waved Naruto into the classroom.

“My parents are fulfilling a contract on the other side of town, Sensei. They can’t get here for another fifteen minutes. I can wait a bit while you talk to him,” Sakura stepped to the side to let Naruto stand in front of Iruka’s desk with her. Naruto side-eyed her, unsure why she was being so nice.

“Naruto, you had something you wanted to say?” Iruka prompted.

“Well, um, Sensei, I was wondering, well… You’re way nicer than my sensei, like super nice, y’know? You helped me with that worksheet today. And I was wondering, if maybe? I could move to your class, y’know?” Naruto rocked on his heels nervously.

“ _ Calm down, kit, you’re getting yourself worked up. It’ll be fine if he says no, _ ” Kurama soothed.

Iruka’s frowned as he asked, “What do you mean, Mizuki doesn’t help you? You’re a little bit behind the other students, he should have noticed that.”

“Well, he writes stuff on the board for us, but I can’t read, so I ask questions, but he tells me to stop being so dist-rup-tive, y’know?” Naruto explained. Iruka’s face went through several expressions in a few seconds, eventually seeming to settle on a mix of dismay and fury.

“Naruto, you don’t know how to read? At all? And Mizuki doesn’t help you?” Iruka demanded. He was angry, but not at Naruto.

“That’s awful,” came a whisper from his side. Sakura looked horrified. “I can’t imagine not being able to read.”

“I don’t mind. It’s just annoying in class sometimes. Besides, books seem boring anyways, y’know.”

“They’re not!” Sakura stomped her foot.

" _If Sapling attacks you, run. I don't know if we can defend against her,_ " Kurama growled, their fur standing on end as Naruto edged away, ready to bolt.But then, Sakura closed her eyes for a second and just like that, all the hostility drained out of her.

When she opened her eyes, Sakura smiled sheepishly, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to get mad, I just really like books. When I read one, it can take me to a whole different place or I learn something I didn’t know before or all sorts of other stuff. They’re not boring, you probably just think so because you’ve never read one before.”

“Really? Books do all that? I mean, they’re just paper, y’know?” Naruto squinted in confusion.

“Really!” Sakura nodded, her eyes shining. “And it’s not the paper, not really, although the feel of paper is the  _ best _ , it’s the words on the paper. I’ll read one with you and you’ll see.”

Naruto’s eyes widened as he nodded disbelievingly. First, Sakura let him talk to Iruka, then she didn’t get angry, and now she was offering to read with him? Only Kurama was ever that nice to him! Maybe they can even read together before her parents tell him to stop talking to him!

" _She might seem nice, but watch out Fishcake. Tree's chakra in her means nothing good._ "

" _But you're chakra in me too, Kurama, and you said that it was no excuse for how people treat me, y'know._ "

Kurama huffed and rolled their eyes, but Naruto knew he won this time.

“Naruto,” Iruka interjected, drawing both the children’s attention back to him, “I will talk to the Academy Headmistress and have you moved to my class. Tomorrow, come to my classroom an hour early and I’ll help you catch up.”

Naruto’s face lit up with a grin, “Really, really? Yes!” Naruto wanted to run around the classroom screaming, but he knew that would just make Kurama  _ and _ Iruka yell at him, so he contented himself with dancing in place instead.

Sakura was nice, he was getting moved to a better class,  _ and  _ Iruka-sensei was helping him! If he didn’t get ahold of himself, Kurama’s chakra would bubble over, but he could barely bring himself to care through the utter elation he felt at the hopeful turn of events. His life plan might not be ruined!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> naruto's life plan is as follows.
> 
> 1: graduate the academy as the most badass shinobi
> 
> 2: make everyone realize he's the badassest and they make him hokage
> 
> 3: ramen
> 
> also, yes, kurama gives dumb nicknames to everyone. more dumb nicknames by a fox who doesn't understand human naming conventions coming your way.

**Author's Note:**

> okay, a note since it probably wasn't obvious just reading it, but sasuke doesn't realize he has itachi's eyes, because he was unconscious when the switch happened (i always wondered why uchiha had to kill their sibling to get their eyes, like, why didn't izuna and madara just switch!?!??!)
> 
> also, since kurama is kind of a giant chakra being and not a person or an animal, i write them as gender neutral. feels right to me? probably just me.


End file.
